Hermione's illness
by doc boy
Summary: Hermione is deathly ill and it's up to Harry to save her. Will he succeed? If so how? Who will help them? The answers lie within


Hermione's illness

I do not own Harry Potter

It was the beginning of another day at Hogwarts. It was Christmas break and most of the school was away for the holidays. Aside from Harry and Hermione, only a few students remained in the castle. It was the middle of their fourth year and Hemione wanted to stay at Hogwarts to spend time with Harry. Helping him train for the tri wizard tournament brought them much closer to one another, and she cherished any moment alone with him she could have. And so, did he. Over the last few nights, they slept beside each other cuddled on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room, seeing as they had the entire tower to themselves. Everything was peaceful and happy for them. But that was about to change…

On the morning of New Years' Eve, Harry woke up to find Hermione was still asleep but was breathing heavy and shallow breathes and she was covered in a cold sweat. He hunched over her with concern.

"Hermione?" he asked worriedly.

She didn't respond.

"Hermione, are you alright?" he asked and shook her slightly. She moaned softly as if she was in great pain and opened her eyes slightly. They were badly bloodshot.

"Harry…" she muttered hoarsely.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"My magical core…"

Harry paled. A wizard's magical core was what kept a wizard alive.

"What about it? Is it hurt?" he asked on the verge of panicking.

Hermione nodded slowly as if it pained her greatly.

"It's going out…" she muttered softly.

"No… no…" muttered Harry.

"Is there anything that can be done?"

"Must… make… special potion…"

"Potion? But I'm no good in potions. I don't want to risk killing you even sooner…"

"Not you Harry… S… S…" she tried to say.

"Snape." He finished for her. She nodded.

"He's the only teacher who didn't go home for the holidays…" she said softly.

Harry hated Snape with every fiber of his being, but if it meant saving Hermione, he would swallow all the pride in the world to do everything he can to save her. Even begging him for help.

"I'll go ask him. Hang tight Hermione. You're gonna be okay…" he reassured her and stroked her cheek softly which made her smile with content.

"Good luck…" she whispered and sighed heavily. With that, Harry sprinted out of the common room and ran down to the bowls of the castle as fast as his feet could carry him. Within a few minutes he made it to the dungeons and to Snape's office. He banged on the doors like a made man seeking refuge. After he was done knocking, he leaned on his keens to catch his breath. Soon enough, a clicking sound could be heard, as Snape's slippery face appeared at the door.

"Well Potter, you better have a very good reason to bother me so early this morning, and on New Years' Eve morning at that."

Harry struggled to catch his breath.

"Please… I need your help…" he struggled to get the words out.

"With what? Helping you get a passing grade for a change?" mocked the man.

"No… it's Hermione… she's dying…"

"And?"

"I need your help Professor. Her magical core, is going out and I need a special potion to heal her."

"I don't have time for this Potter…" he muttered and attempted to close the door but Harry blocked it with his arm.

"Stand aside Potter. Before I have you expelled for intruding into my office."

"I won't leave until you cure Hermione, even if it means having to spend a life sentence in Azkaban."

"Don't embarrasses yourself Potter. Do you have any idea of what kind of place Azkaban is?"

"Yes, I do. You know why? Because I know it would be child's play in compare to losing Hermione."

"And why is that might I ask?"

"Because I love her. And I haven't even told her yet. I don't expect you to know how that feels but I can swear to you that losing someone you love more than you love yourself is a pain worse than death. Let alone if you never even told her."

This sentence made Snape's eyes twitch and then widen in shock. As if awakening a distant, yet dormant and painful memory in Snape's mind. He inspected the boy in front of him closely, trying to decide what to do. Finally, he sighed heavily.

"I beg of you professor. Please you've got to help me. Please…" pleaded the boy. On the verge of tears.

Had harry not struck a nerve in Snape he wouldn't have helped him. Unbeknownst to Harry, he knew exactly how he felt and he knew he wouldn't wish that fear on anyone. Perhaps saving Hermione's life would help ease his own pain as well…

Finally, he stood aside to let Harry in.

"Get in." he ordered softly, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Harry dove in.

"Thank you, professor. I am eternally grateful to you for this." He said and closed the door behind him.

"No Harry, thank _you_…" he said, calling Harry by his first name for the first time, which caught Harry by surprise.

"I don't understand. I'm the one who should be saying thank you."

"So should I." said Snape and began preparing the potion as Harry sat down.

Snape sighed.

"Listen carefully Harry for what I am about to tell you is very personal. I want you to give me your word you will not tell anyone what I am about to tell you except for Hermione because I think she would deserve an explanation."

"Okay sir. You have my word." Said Harry, listening intently as Snape began to stir the ingredients of the potion.

"First of all, I want you to understand something. You were wrong about what you said to me earlier. This may come as a surprise to you, but I also have a heart and I know how painful it is to lose someone you love."

"Really?" Harry wondered aloud, slightly surprised indeed. Snape nodded.

"To make matters worse, I feel indirectly responsible for her death, even though I'm not. It was a result of a terrible mistake…" said Snape as Harry listened intently.

"I loved this woman dearly but it was during the last war and she was in terrible danger, some time before she died, I was still a supporter of you know who, and I called her a horrible name and even though I tried to apologize profusely, she refused to accept it. When I found out she was marrying someone I hate, it made things worse…" said Snape and sniffed, to Harry surprise he was trying to hold back the tears he never knew this man had. Oddly enough, his story was starting to sound familiar.

"Shortly before Voldemort's downfall, I met Professor Dumbledore and begged for his help. At first I asked him to save only her, but the fact that I wasn't interested in sparing her husband and their only son as well, who were targeted by the dark lord disgusted him. I ended up begging for his help even though it meant sparing the boy and his father of which I hated. He agreed…"

Now this story sounded really familiar, but Harry decided to wait for him to finish before he spoke.

"Shortly before she and her husband were murdered, they changed the person protecting them at the last minute. Dumbledore assured me she and her family would be kept safe but they put their trust in the wrong man, and the woman I loved and her husband died that faithful night. Despite our differences, I didn't want her husband to die, even though he was a bully to me for many of our years here at Hogwarts. And I don't want their only son to deal with the anguish I feel till this day." Said Snape and looked Harry in the eyes for the first time. Harry's heart sank into his hoes.

"My mother was the one you loved?" he asked in shock, his suspicions being confirmed.

"Yes, Harry. She was the one I loved. Strange as it sounds, I wasn't always prejudice against muggleborns because I knew her before we started Hogwarts. I don't think I need to tell you what was the horrible name I called her that killed our relationship. There isn't a day goes by I don't feel regret for that and that I feel somewhat responsible for hers and James death."

"But from the way you tell it, it wasn't your fault. You may have been the one who turned to Dumbledore and he helped by giving them protection but you were not the one who chose who would do it."

"Ture. But I always wondered, had I not asked Dumbledore for help would Lily still be alive?"

Harry sighed.

"I don't know. Poor decision or not at least they had protection, that has had to be something."

Snape sighed.

"I wish I knew. I just want you to understand one more thing. All this hatred I show towards you and your friends, it's just a facade, because I know that as a Slytherin teacher, I cannot be seen being nice to Gryffindors and I know that someday the dark lord will return, and when he does you will be in danger and I must deceive everyone that I never switched sides. This is all I can tell you Harry. When the times comes you will know the rest." Said Snape and took out a bottle and poured the potion in it and handed it to Harry.

"You don't have much time. Hurry up and save your girlfriend." Said Snape and handed him the bottle.

"Thank you, professor."

"Thank _you, _Harry. This may come as a surprise to you, but helping you save your love is a way of easing my own pain. As if I'm having a second chance to save Lily even if it's by proxy. She reminds me of her." Said the man and led Harry to the door.

"Thank you." Said Harry again and darted off into the distance and Snape closed the door behind him to have a stiff drink after spilling his guts to Harry.

Within minutes, Harry was back in the common room where he last left Hermione. To his terror she was very pale and had trouble breathing. He hunched by her as he opened the cap of the bottle.

"Hermione?" he asked. She did not respond; she was unconscious by now.

"Hang in there, baby. Help is on the way." He said and lifted her head and poured the potion down her throat. At first nothing happened. Then, her breathing began to return to normal and the color began to come back to her cheeks. Harry sighed with relief and let out an anxious laugh. He leaned into the couch, dizzy with euphoria.

"Thank God…" he muttered. Soon he lay down beside Hermione, cuddling her on the couch, both of them needing the comfort and was out like a light.

Hours later…

Harry stirred a little bit in his sleep, someone was stroking his cheek gently. He opened his eyes slowly. There he found a pair of hazelnut brown eyes and a lovely smile beaming back at him.

"Hermione…" he blurted out, happy to see she was awake and well and brought her into a hug and wept with joy and relief. She rubbed his back softly and gently in a soothing motion.

"I thought I lost you." He muttered.

"I almost lost _you_…" she said and they cuddled lovingly on the couch.

After a few moments of a happy bliss, enjoying the moment, Harry spoke.

"I love you Hermione. I love you more than anything in this world. And I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you…"

Hermione smiled happily.

"I love you too Harry. I love you more than life itself. I'll be happy to be your wife one of these days and someday raise a family…" she confessed and Harry smiled just as happily.

"I'm glad." He said and moved closer to kiss her sweetly and tenderly on the lips, he placed his arms around her neck as she did the same with his, as they kissed lovingly and tenderly with all the warmth and love in the world. Finally, when the need for air became inescapable, they parted and rested their foreheads on each other's. After a few minutes of a happy and blissful silence, Hermione spoke.

"How did you get Snape to help me?"

Harry smiled.

"It's a long story. I'll explain it to you over dinner…" he said and kissed her sweetly on the lips. She smiled.

"I'm all yours Harry." She said and kissed him again on the lips just as sweetly as they left the common room hand in hand and towards the great hall, happy to be a couple…

The end…

So, there it is… hope you guys liked it. I gotta admit it was quite the twist with Snape's decision and confession. I know he was kind of out of character, but I thought it would be a neat thing to explore. Anyway, hope you guys liked it and as always, reviews are most welcome…

See you around…


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